Spatial bias in Australian news reporting

Abstract

Summary Although the mass media in Australia have attracted a good deal of academic comment, their significance as sources of spatial information has scarcely been examined despite the fact that the ‘agenda setting’ approach to the study of media impact affords a practical method of assessing how media content may contribute to spatial awareness. News reports constitute a major source of spatial information and, accordingly, a content analysis of New South Wales press, radio, and television is undertaken to show the extent of spatial bias in news coverage and hence the highly constrained ‘agendas’ that are set before the public.